Fine finish for Frasco's career at Quincy
Prospect graduate Bobby Frasco had quite an ending to his collegiate basketball career last week on his home court at Quincy University.
The Hawks trailed McKendree by 12 points in the final quarter and Frasco played key role in the comeback.
His 3-pointer cut the lead to 6 points. Moments later, he grabbed a defensive rebound and then had a big assist to teammate Marcus Hinton, who hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 107-107.
Quincy went on to record a 127-120 victory in its final game of the season. It was the highest-scoring game in school history.
Frasco, the lone senior on the Quincy roster, finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
He has no regrets about his collegiate career.
"As my college basketball career came to an end, reflecting on my journey was a tremendous feeling," said Frasco, whose sister Emily will begin her career at Alabama-Birmingham next winter after being named the Mid-Suburban East Player of the Year while also playing at Prospect. "Having the opportunity to compete in both NCAA Division 1 and NCAA Division 2 basketball tournaments are moments I will cherish for the rest of my life."
Frasco transferred from the University of Buffalo.
"I have been extremely blessed with great coaching staffs and mentors at the University of Buffalo and Quincy University," Frasco said. "And I have continued to receive support from the Prospect Basketball coaching staff well after my high school days. Ending my basketball journey overcoming a twelve-point deficit with three minutes left to force the game to overtime, ultimately winning in a 127-120 shootout capped off an exhilarating career."
Women's volleyball
Palatine graduate and Harper sophomore Sarah Udoni will continue her career at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis.
In her two years at Harper, Udoni racked up several awards.
In 2016, Udoni was named second team all-conference, second team all-Region and National Tournament MVP when Harper won the national championship.
In 2017, she enjoyed an even bigger season, individually.
The 5-10 middle hitter was named All-Conference, All-Region, All-Region Tournament Team, All-National Team and NJCAA all-American. She was also named NJCAA National Player of the Week.
Udoni will join a Carthage team that finished 27-9 overall and 6-2 in the CCIW. The Lady Reds' season ended with a regional championship loss to No. 2 Calvin College in a five-set thriller.
Women's swimming
Iowa State diver Dana Liva (Prospect) received first-team All-Big 12 honors following the Big 12 Women's swimming and diving championships at the University of Texas where she placed third on platform (283.4).
She earned second-team Big 12 honors on the 1-meter placing seventh with a score of 271.35.
Liva was also 11th on the 3-meter (272.85) as she helped the Cyclones to a fourth-place finish.
• Washington College junior swimmer Julia Portmann (Fremd) won three medals at the Centennial Conference Championships at Franklin & Marshall College.
Portmann won bronze in the 1650 freestyle in 17:36.48, bettering her own time as the Shorewomen's third-fastest swimmer ever in the event.
She swam the third leg of the silver medal-winning 400 freestyle relay, which finished in 3:34.82, just missing the school record by one one-hundredth of a second. She also swam the anchor leg of the bronze medal-winning 800 freestyle relay, which finished in a school-record time of 7:50.03.
She was fifth in the 500 freestyle in 5:09.28 and 13th in the 200 freestyle in 1:58.42.
As a team, the Shorewomen finished fifth of eight teams at the championships.
Men's swimming
Trinity University (Texas) freshman diver Anthony Liva (Prospect) earned first-team all Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference honors in Dallas in the 3-meter (414.35) and 1-meter (scoring 428.0) while helping the Tigers win the conference championship.
Women's basketball
In her freshman season for Denver University, freshman Claire Gritt (Hersey) earned three accolades in the Summit League.
She was 'Freshman of the Year', named to the All-Newcomer Team and was an honorable mention All-Summit League selection.
Gritt started in 27 of 29 games and averaged a team-leading 10.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. She shot 40.8 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from 3-point range.
Earlier this season, Gritt was named to the Roo Holiday Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 16 points per game, including a career-high 21 points vs Liberty on Dec. 19.
Softball
University of Wisconsin-Concordia senior Allison Peters (Elk Grove) was named the NACC 'Position Player of the Week' for the first week of the season.
Peters had an outstanding performance at the Finlandia Dome Tournament to win the honors.
She hit .615 over four games for the Falcons, helping the team to a 2-2 record. She collected multiple hits in three of those games and posted at least one extra-base hit in every contest.
Peters tallied 3 doubles, a triple, and scored 4 runs while posting a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage.
Men's track
Iowa State's Vlad Pavlenko (Hersey) set the Iowa State record in the weight throw (68-09.75), which put him third in the event at the Big 12 Championships.
• Augustana senior Josh Yamamoto (Fremd) was part of the 4x400 relay team which ran a season's best 3:17.42 en route to victory at the Wartburg Invitational in Waverly, IA. Yamamoto also took second in the 400 with a time of 49.31.
Vikings senior Evan Murphy (Buffalo Grove) won the triple jump with a leap of 46-10, leading a one-two-three sweep of the event for Augustana.
The Vikings will compete in the NCAA Division III National Indoor Championships this Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Ala. The Vikings will send the 4x400 relay team.
Baseball
Oakton Community College baseball coach Bill Fratto (428-229) is hoping his team rebounds from a 25-28 season in 2017.
He returns 15 sophomores, including infielders Chris Broccolino of Schaumburg and Luca Karz (Prospect). Broccolino batted .318 last year while Karz registered a .287 batting average.
Among the freshmen expected to make an offensive impact are infielder Jeff Mustari (Maine West) and catcher Jack Splett (Wheeling).
"I can't wait to see how this team unfolds, as the players have worked extremely hard to prepare for the season," Fratto says. "We just need to be focused on playing consistent baseball and get back to winning 40 games."
Women's track
Augustana junior Ashley Talken (Wheeling) placed second in the pole vault with a clearance of 10-10¾ at the first day of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Indoor Track & Field Championships at Carthage College.
Women's lacrosse
Augustana junior Emily Lucnik (Schaumburg) notched a goal in the Vikings' 16-11 win over visiting Southwestern. The game was the season opener for the Vikings and marked the 100th win in program history, against just 20 losses.
Men's track
Augustana senior Evan Murphy (Buffalo Grove) took second in the triple jump with a leap of 46-7¼ at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Indoor Track & Field Championships at Carthage.
His efforts helped Augustana finish second in the team standings in the nine-team meet which took place over two days.
The Vikings' 4x400 relay unit that included senior Josh Yamamoto (Fremd) took second in 3:19.09. Yamamoto also placed second in the 400 in 49.63 and he was sixth in the 200 (22.81).
Women's hockey
Adrian College sophomore defenseman Kelly Sullivan (Fremd) was named to the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic team.
A first-time recipient, Sullivan leads Adrian in points this year with 26 (7 goals, 19 assists) and has scored two power-play goals this season as well as one game-winning goal.
Men's hockey
UConn senior goaltender Tanner Creel (St. Viator) was named the Hockey East 'Defensive Player of the Week' after leading the Huskies to a 4-2 win at No. 11 nationally-ranked Northeastern. Creel turned away a season-high 34 shots as UConn extended its winning streak to six games.
Since Jan. 18 when the Huskies sophomore goalie was injured, Creel started seven straight games posting a 6-1-0 record with a 2.44 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. He earned wins over three-ranked opponents during the streak, defeating then No. 10 Providence, No. 16 Boston College and the No. 11 Northeastern.